So here’s what I took away from the 600k. That 1200k is doable, but only worth doing if I ride it like a scheduled tour and not like a quasi-race. That means, simply, that I stop occasionally, eat, and sleep.
On these rides, there is food at the controls. But it is largely the same at every stop. That’s okay for about 200 miles, and maybe 250. But eventually, Clif Bars and PB&J are just not appetizing enough to get you excited about eating. I think that at least once a day I should stop in a town I would otherwise blow through and get a hot meal.
Now, I’ve been meaning to do that since the Davis Double Century, and don’t seem to have been able to. I attribute that to the mentality of these rides, and the fact that I buy into that mentality. But after the 600k, I know that if I try to power through the 1200k, I probably will not finish.
The next thing is to sleep. Many of the controls on the 1200k have cots to sleep in, and some even have hotel rooms people share. Screw that. I’m getting my own hotel room. I’m going to have a meal, a shower, and a bed every night, even if for only a few hours.
Which brings me to the third part of the plan. That is to break the rides into thirds: Three 400k, or roughly 250 mile rides with breaks in between. I think I can ride fast enough to buy that time, and I think I will enjoy the ride all the more for it. Because I think the last lesson of the 600k for me is that 400k of riding in one day is as much fun on a bike as I can have in one day. After that, it’s just work. It’s an interesting thing to learn. And I think it’s a good thing to know.
We’ll see!